A Kenyan asylum seeker died in Canada after waiting to secure shelter for several hours in the cold. The woman identified as Delphina Ngigi had just arrived in Canada where she had travelled to seek refuge at the Dundas shelter.
According to advocates from the African Canadian Community, she arrived in Toronto, Canada on Thursday, February 15.
The advocates further revealed that she went to the Dundas Shelter to seek refuge at 1 p.m. on Saturday 17.
However, despite her arriving at 1.pm local time, she was admitted at around 8.pm after hours out in the cold.
Kenyan death puzzle
The woman who is said to be a widow and mother of four children still in Kenya, later suffered a medical emergency.
Confirming her death, The Region of Peel said that she arrived at the shelter on Dundas Street East needing a place to stay on Saturday night.
Ngigi slept indoors at the shelter but suffered a medical emergency on Sunday which prompted the management to rush her to hospital where she passed away.
Also Read: Alarm Raised as Kenyan Woman in Germany Jumps from Storey Building
Peel Region in a statement said that the hospital does not feel the death is suspicious and police were not involved.
An autopsy is expected to be completed to determine the cause of death.
On his part, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown highlighted the overcrowded shelters, saying that there were no beds for the woman at the shelter and she was forced to sleep in the lobby.
The mayor added that Peel Region shelters are currently at 400 per cent capacity asking the government to deal with the influx of asylum claimants.
“The basic responsibility the current government has is to make sure that someone comes to Canada to pursue that Canadian dream that they’re not left abandoned to fall in the cracks is seeking asylum in winter. We need more help,” he said.
Call for reforms
Following her death, the Advocates from the African Canadian community called for better support for refugees in the North American country, especially during the harsh winter months.
They argued that the tragic event has shed light on the challenges faced by refugees in Peel Region.
Also Read: UK Woman Found Guilty of Aiding FGM on British Girl in Kenya Jailed
This incident has further reignited calls for reforms and more resources to assist marginalized groups like asylum seekers.
Led by the founder of the Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre Kizito Musabimana, the activists called on all levels of government to do more to support refugees.
“We, at this point, we have to start asking ourselves, not just as the Black community, not just as leaders and the refugee starving groups and others that are supporting us, we have to ask ourselves as Canadians whether this is who we want to be?” said Kizito Musabimana.
He further said that it was disheartening for the death of the Kenyan woman to have occurred during Black History Month.
According to Toronto City News, Ngigi’s family and the community are working on funeral arrangements back in Kenya.
Canadian publications also indicated that this is the second death of an asylum seeker in Peel Region after a Nigerian refugee died in November 2023 while sleeping in a tent outside the same shelter.
